Who Are You?
by slavenclaw38
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione are in their seventh year at Hogwarts. Dumbledore has created a pen-pal service to promote inter-house unity. And whom does Harry get? Draco Malfoy. But the problem is...they don’t know who each other are. Very AU. Eventual D/H.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait. I will be updating a new chapter soon. These existing chapters have been edited and there is a new scene in chapter 4, where something is revealed (although obvious). **

**Thanks for all the reviews! **

"Welcome back to another year of Hogwarts!" bellowed Dumbledore. "As you all know, we have students who are back to finish of their seventh year of school. Before anyone dies of hunger, let the feast begin!"

Like every other year before, Harry Potter found himself surrounded by a large amount of food. His best friend, Ron, was scarfing down a chicken wing not caring that he was spraying everyone within a 2-metre radius of him. Hermione, who was sitting next to Ron, was trying to shield the bits of chicken flying towards her as she read her newest book, Hogwarts: A History 2.

As soon as everyone had finished their meal, the dishes vanished and a slip of blank parchment appeared in front of every single student. Followed shortly were quills and ink to write with. "What's this for?" asked Ron. "Are we doing some kind of test?"

"Shush Ron! Be quiet!" whispered Hermione. "Professor Dumbledore is trying to say something."

Ron looked over to the front of the Great Hall and she was right. Dumbledore was trying, and failing, to get everyone's attention. Tired of waving his arms wildly, he pointed his wand to his throat and said, "Sonorus!"

Right away, his voice was projected throughout the Great Hall. "That's better," he sighed.

"Okay. I'm sure you're all wondering what this is for. To promote inter-house unity, we are creating a pen-pal service. You are to write a name on that slip of parchment and that name will be your pen-pal name," he announced. "Before you start writing, just to let you know, this name is anonymous. So think of a good one! After you have finished, we will collect them and choose, for each of you, a pen pal to write to. This will be done randomly, of course. At the end of the year, we will be having a Masquerade Ball, where you can reveal your identity to your pen pal. That is all. So, start writing!"

"Whoa! That is a lot of information to take in a such a short space of time!" exclaimed Ron. "What did he say again?"

"Honestly Ronald, don't you ever listen?" answered Hermione.

Ron ignored her and started tapping his quill on the table, deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Harry was trying really hard to think of a good name.

"Something not too revealing..." he thought.

"I know!" he said out loud.

Everyone at the table turned to look at him. Pools of red filled his cheeks and Harry looked down in embarrassment. In his untidy scrawl, he wrote: _Dark Rider. _He folded the parchment up and looked over his shoulder, noticing Draco Malfoy chatting to Blaise Zabini. Harry scowled and looked away quickly.

* * *

Draco's eyes were closing slowly, his head lowering closer to the table. A hand rested on his shoulder softly and he heard a whisper.

"You're not really falling asleep, are you?" asked the person. "You better not be. I'm not thinking of my pen-pal name by myself. Help me, will you?"

Draco looked up, eyes still drooping. "What?" he shot back.

"Didn't you hear Dumbledore at all? We're doing some kind of pen-pal thing..." Blaise replied.

"I heard. What did you need help with?" said Draco, fully awake and very annoyed.

"My name. What's your's going to be?" asked Blaise.

Draco rolled his eyes at Blaise and looked down at his slip of parchment. In his elegant script he wrote: _Silver Snake._ He felt breathing down his neck and looked up.

"BLAISE! GO AWAY!" he screamed. All eyes were on him at that moment and the talking stopped.

"What are you looking at?" he said, glaring at the people who were looking at him. Slowly, they went to their own business and the chatting started again at the Slytherin table.

"God, Draco. You didn't have to make such a huge fuss about it. Just wanted to see what you were writing down," said Blaise.

Draco just ignored him and changed the topic. "So... Have you thought of what your name is going to be?" he asked.

"Yeah. But I'm not telling you!" Blaise answered rudely.

Draco rolled his eyes again. "I really ought to stop doing that," he thought.

He then felt a set of eyes on him. He looked over to the other end of the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table and saw Harry Potter just looking away from him. "Why the hell is Potter staring at me?" he thought, feeling confused. "That's weird".

He turned to Blaise, who was talking to Theodore about the pen-pal service.

"Can't anyone get over that?" He shook his head and saw the flying slips of parchment heading towards the head table when he finally closed his eyes to have a quick nap before the going back to his own common room.


	2. Chapter 2

When Harry looked back to his table, he found Hermione and Ron bickering about their own pen names.

"Why can't I have my name to be _Bookworm_?" asked Hermione, already frustrated.

"Because it's too obvious. Everyone knows you're the only person who reads!" said Ron.

"Yeah! Like yours isn't obvious enough, _Gryffindor Keeper_!" Hermione shot back.

"Will you two stop arguing? You're giving me a headache!" said Harry, annoyed. "Just change both your names and get it done already!"

Hermione and Ron both scowled and kept quiet.

"See you guys in the common room, okay?" said Harry, getting up from his seat, ready to leave the Great Hall.

"Yeah, whatever..." mumbled Ron.

"See you, Harry!" said Hermione. "Remember to get your timetable from Professor McGonagall," she yelled; but Harry was already too far away to hear her.

They both got back to thinking of a less obvious pen name and the only sounds coming from them were the sound of scratching quills.

* * *

Passing the Slytherin table, Harry saw Draco Malfoy asleep, resting his head on his next- door neighbour, Blaise, who was trying to push Draco's head away from him. Quietly laughing to himself, Harry left the Great Hall.

"That was a great opportunity to make fun of Malfoy. Why didn't I do it?" thought Harry. "Maybe I'm growing up!"

He reached the Gryffindor Common Room soon later (after tripping over one of the trick staircases and almost falling down the stairs).

"What a day!" he thought, and went up to his dormitory to find his trunk and Hedwig already there.

There was also a slip of parchment, exactly the same size as the one before, resting on his bed. He flipped it over and saw two words, in much better writing than his, written on it: _Silver Snake_.

In much tinier writing at the bottom of the parchment said:

_This person will be your pen pal for the rest of the year. As soon as you have written your letter, sign off with your own pen name and your letter will be delivered to this person immediately. This procedure will be the same for the person writing to you. Letters from your own pen pal will be delivered to your dormitory and will be found on your bed, just like this slip of parchment. For any other questions, please report to me._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor Dumbledore_

Harry put the slip of parchment on his bedside table and went to sleep, thinking about the identity of this _Silver Snake._

* * *

Draco felt his head being pushed up and down, up and down. "Am I on a boat in the sea?" he thought.

"GET OFF, DRACO!" yelled someone in his ear.

Quickly, he shot out of his seat and jumped a few metres away from the table.

"Blaise?" he said, confused.

"Finally! You're awake! Did you know I've been trying to get you off my shoulder for half an hour? But you kept coming back. It was creepy!" he shuddered.

"I thought I was on a boat," said Draco, still confused. He looked around and saw that they were the only ones there. "Why didn't you wake me up? We have classes tomorrow, you know?" said Draco.

"I've been trying to!" yelled Blaise, getting annoyed. "Whatever. I'm going back to the common room. You can sleep here for all I care."

He left the hall and closed the doors behind him. Feeling rejected, Draco walked slowly back to his common room.

Stopping at the entrance, he said sleepily, "Pureblood." and waited for the entrance to open.

As soon as he arrived at his dorm, he changed into his pyjamas and lied down on his bed. Feeling something underneath him, he pulled it out and saw that it was a slip of parchment, just like the one at dinner.

"It must be the pen-pal thing," he thought. Ignoring the snores coming from Blaise and Theodore's beds, he decided to read the smaller writing at the bottom first. "This person will be your pen pal for the year, whatever. Like I need to know this stuff."

Looking to the bigger writing, he read out aloud, "Dark Rider."

"Cool pen name. Should have thought of that first," he thought.

He fell asleep holding the parchment in his hand and dreamt about the supposed _Dark Rider _until the sun arose.


	3. Chapter 3

Harry arrived in the Great Hall for breakfast, finding that he was the first person there. He sat down at the Gryffindor table and waited for his friends to arrive and the food to appear. Figuring that he had about fifteen minutes until then, he took out the slip of parchment from the night before.

"_Silver Snake_...Who could that be?" he asked himself. He looked up and saw Draco Malfoy just walking in, wearing a green Slytherin jumper that had a silver snake on the front.

"Oh my god!" thought Harry, shocked. "_Silver Snake_! MY PEN PAL IS A SLYTHERIN?" By that time, he was shouting in his head.

"Harry? Are you okay?" Harry looked up and saw Hermione and Ron, blocking his view from the green jumper.

"You look a bit pale, mate," said Ron, looking worried.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired," answered Harry, calming down.

His two friends sat down on the opposite bench, so he couldn't see the Slytherin table.

"Did you get your pen pal's name last night?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, I did. But I'm not telling you mine. Its meant to be a secret, remember?" answered Ron.

"Well, I was talking to Harry, not you," said Hermione, turning her back to Ron and started gossiping with Ginny. The food appeared and Ron was soon shoving his face with food.

Harry got out his timetable and saw that he had Transfigurations first with the Slytherins.

"Great," he thought. "Another opportunity for Malfoy to insult me. Have to live with it, I guess."

He put it away and got back to his bacon and eggs, forgetting about what had got him freaking out before.

* * *

Draco arrived at the Great Hall fifteen minutes after Harry. "Hey Blaise! What's up?" asked Draco, settling down in his seat.

"Nothing much. Got my pen pal name yesterday. Did you?" replied Blaise.

"Yeah. Not telling you who though, until you tell me your pen name," said Draco.

"I'm not giving in first," said Blaise.

Draco sighed and started getting his breakfast, piling his plate with food.

"Off your diet already?" asked Blaise, curiously. "Not worried about your figure?"

"Shove off!" Draco shot back. "First my mum, now you? This is getting annoying."

"What about your mum?" Blaise asked.

Draco tried to ignore him by looking down at his food, pretending to analyse it very closely, but Blaise was a persistent person. He began poking Draco with his fork, quite hard and painfully.

"My God! What's your problem?" screamed Draco. "Do you want me to die from someone stabbing me with a fork? And by someone, I mean you."

"Sorry, just trying to get your attention," replied Blaise.

"Well, you have it. Now, talk," said Draco, annoyed.

"Never mind. Remember, we have McGonagall first so we have to be on time." said Blaise, changing the subject.

They left the Great Hall and started walking to their Transfigurations class.

"Great, we have it with the Gryffindors," Draco thought. "One hour to survive. Luckily its not a double period!"

* * *

"Okay class. Please get out your quills and parchment because in this period you will spend your time writing to your pen pals," announced Professor McGonagall. There were many groans coming from the back of the room, especially from the Slytherins. The others were excitingly chatting among themselves. Although some people were resistant, they all got out there equipment and started writing, or pretending to write. Draco looked down at his piece of parchment and all it said was: _To Dark Rider_. He didn't know what else to write so he put down his quill and scanned the room.

Blaise, who was next to him, was furiously writing down who knows what, but he looked like he was enjoying himself. Most of the other Slytherins were whispering to each other, trying not to get caught by Professor McGonagall. Looking to the other side of the room, where the Gryffindors were, he saw the Golden Trio sitting next to each other. Like always, Hermione and Ron were bickering about something unimportant. Harry was staring into space, not bothering to write. Draco's eyes lingered over Harry for a while and their eyes met. Quickly, they both looked away and got back to what they were meant to be doing, writing their letters.

After a long, torturing hour, the class filed out of the room and Draco was proud of himself for finishing one letter for his pen pal. Grinning creepily, he walked to his next class for the day, Herbology. He pulled out his timetable and saw that he didn't have his favourite class today, Potions. The grin slowly went to a frown.

"This is going to be a long day," he sighed to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

The Gryffindor common room was filled with people after dinner. Loud music was blasting from the radio and everyone was trying to talk over it. Harry rubbed his head, trying to ease the pain of his huge migraine.

"I hate all my teachers! Two three foot essays and a five foot paper all due in three days?" he thought. "I might kill myself if this keeps happening!"

"Not really, right?" said a voice. Harry looked up from his pile of notes he was meant to be reading and saw Ron, drinking a bottle of Butterbeer.

"What?" Harry asked Ron.

"You're not going to kill yourself, right?" Ron asked again, looking worried.

"I said that out loud?" asked Harry. "I was just kidding, you know. It's just that we have a huge amount of homework and I can see you haven't started yours."

"Phew!" sighed Ron, relieved. "I was really worried there. About the homework though...I'll probably just ask Hermione..."

"Ask Hermione what?" interrupted Hermione, who was walking across the room towards them.

"Nothing. I wasn't talking about you. Did I say Hermione? I meant Harry," said Ron quickly.

Harry quietly collected his stuff and rushed up the stairs to his dormitory, leaving his two friends to sort out their own problems. When he walked into his dormitory, he saw five letters, each on the five beds. Harry went to his bed and picked up the neatly folded letter. On the outside said: _Dark Rider_. He opened the letter and sat down on his bed to read it.

_To Dark Rider,_

_Obviously, I am Silver Snake, your pen pal. This pen pal thing is a really bad idea. I'm not sure what to write but I'll tell you a bit about myself..._

_I am a guy, obviously and you can probably guess which house I am in (I'm not very good at thinking of secretive pen names). My favourite subject is Potions, but Herbology is okay (I guess). My birthday is on June 5th. When's yours? That's probably all I'm going to write. This is the most boring class ever! Hope I get a letter from you soon (not that I really want one)._

_From your pen pal,_

_Silver Snake _

Harry finished reading the letter, folded it up and put it on his bedside table. He heard his dorm mates coming up the stairs and pretended to be asleep, hoping that they wouldn't question him about his letter.

"I hope he's gotten my letter," he thought as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, Draco was in his dorm, playing Exploding Snap with his dorm mates, Blaise, Greg, Vince and Theo.

"Why are we playing this?" asked Draco, already bored after one game.

"Because I suggested it," said Blaise. "It's the only card game I know how to play."

"Us too!" said Theo, referring to himself, Greg and Vince.

"Can we play something else then?" asked Draco. "I'm bored!"

"Stop whining!" yelled Blaise. "What else can we play?" he asked the others.

"How about truth or dare? We could use a bottle to choose who goes," said Theo, excitedly.

Everyone agreed so they sat in a circle in this order- Theo, Blaise, Draco, Greg and Vince.

"I'll go first!" yelled Blaise, already hyper from excitement.

"Can you stop yelling? You're going to give me a headache!" Draco yelled back.

Blaise ignored Draco and spun the bottle. But he spun it too hard and the bottle skidded over to Theo and smashed on the floor.

"I guess you're asking me, right?" said Theo, confused.

"Did I ruin the game?" asked Blaise, tears forming as he spoke. Draco sighed and reached over to his friend, comforting him.

"Draco, I think he's already past comforting stage," said Greg. Blaise was on full crying mode. Tears streaming down his face and nose running.

"Blaise, look over to your bed. See what's on it?" said Draco, pointing to his bed.

Blaise looked up and to his bed. Resting on the blanket was a letter, neatly folded with some writing on the front. Immediately, his face lit up and he scrambled over to his bed.

"It's my pen pal letter! Oh my god! Its here!" Blaise screamed, jumping up and down, still holding his letter. "Look on your beds! There're letters there, too!"

Draco looked towards his other friends, "Seriously, I can't imagine that it took you guys so long to realise that Blaise is gay." Theo shrugged.

"I realised that you were too first!" screamed Blaise, obviously listening in. Draco ran over to cover Blaise's mouth. He laughed nervously to the other three.

"We already knew," said Theo calmly, with Greg and Vince nodding along. "You were easier to figure out."

Draco stared, open mouthed, with a confused look on his face. "Seriously?"

"Yes, Draco. You are so obviously gay," said Blaise. "What straight guy counts his calories? And be quiet, I want to read my letter."

They all sat on their beds to read their letters. Blaise was bouncing on his bed, still excited.

"Can you please keep quiet? I can't read with your bedsprings straining from your weight," said Theo. Blaise stuck out his tongue at Theo, but he stopped bouncing. Draco laughed quietly and opened his letter.

_To Silver Snake,_

_I'm guessing you are a Slytherin. I'm over it already because you guys are not so bad now. You should have thought of a less obvious name. You probably can't tell which house I'm from but I can tell you I'm a seventh year. Well, finishing it, really. I can't believe they would waste a whole lesson for writing letters. At least we don't have to do work, right? _

_Now, a bit about myself..._

_Sex: Male_

_Birthday: July 31__st_

_Favourite colour: Green_

_Favourite subject: DADA _

_Dream occupation: Auror (but I need a good result for my NEWTs)_

_Dislikes: Homework (hopefully we don't have much this year, but that's not going to happen)_

_Likes: Quidditch (favourite pastime too)_

_That's all, I guess. If you want to know anything else, just ask. We have all year until the ball._

_From,_

_Dark Rider (not Slytherin)_

Draco smiled at the last line. The others had already drifted off to sleep. He looked at his clock and realised it was past midnight.

"I must have taken longer than I thought to read it," he thought. Draco set his alarm for the next day and fell asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

"DRACO!" yelled Blaise, still half awake. Draco rubbed his eyes sleepily and forced himself to sit up, switching the alarm off.

"What's the time?" asked Theo, from under his covers.

"Half past eight," replied Draco, glancing at the clock. He looked back checking the time again. "Oh my god! We overslept!" he screamed. Soon, the dormitory was filled with clothes flying around and everyone was trying to find their last minute items for class.

"Where's my tie?"

"Its over there, on that chair."

"I need my potions stuff. Prof Snape is going to kill me!"

"Calm down everyone," said Draco, trying not to freak out like the others. "We've got fifteen more minutes to get ready and eat breakfast. I'll get the food and just get ready in five minutes, okay?"

Everyone nodded at this order and as soon as Draco had left, the panic had started again.

When Draco arrived back to his dormitory, he was surprised to find a tidied room and his four friends, neatly dressed.

He looked over to Blaise, who was looking guilty.

"Fine. I made everyone dress nicely and cleaned the room," Blaise confessed. "It was an opportunity and I took it."

Draco laughed at his best friend and passed around the food.

* * *

"Sorry Professor Snape. We promise we won't be late again," said Draco, with a genuine smile.

Blaise and the others smiled innocently at the professor. Snape waved them away with his hand to their desks.

"That's so annoying. They can come late to class and they don't even get detention, let alone points taken. We talk in class and a week worth of detention," complained Ron.

"If you don't want points taken away, then don't talk," said Harry, while taking notes on the lesson.

"What's with him?" Ron asked Hermione. "He's even taking notes!"

"Let him take notes. At least he's not like you. Relying on me to take notes for you." replied Hermione. She started another page of notes. Ron tuned out the drawl of the potions professor and rested his head on the desk.

* * *

Snape had just finished the lesson for the period and started giving out the homework assignments.

"For this week's homework, you will be in groups of two and will be writing a report on a potion of your choice. It will have to be around 5 pages of parchment long, each 3 foot. Now for your partners." He began reading the names of the list held up in front of him.

"Zabini, Granger. Malfoy, Potter. Goyle, Weasley. Crabbe, Parkinson...." he read.

Harry already tuned out after Snape had said his name after Draco's.

"Great! Working with Malfoy for a whole week. That should be exciting," he thought.

Meanwhile, Draco was too happy to think.

"Working with Harry would be great! Hold on. Why am I thinking that? Do I like him? Oh my god! I think I do!" His head was filled with thoughts.

"Class is dismissed," said Snape after reading the partners for the project.

Everyone filed out and started walking to their next class.

* * *

At dinner, Harry was watching Ron finish his plate of food. Getting disgusted, he turned himself away and saw Draco at the Slytherin table. Their eyes met for a split second but Draco quickly turned away, blushing.

"Draco blushing?" Harry wondered. "That's new." He turned back to the table and started grabbing some food for dinner. "A leaf of lettuce, a slice of tomato and a slice of cheese," Harry muttered to himself as he picked each up.

"Harry? Is that all you're eating?" asked Ron, with a worried look.

"Yep!" answered Harry happily. "I've decided to go on a diet. There are too many calories in this world."

"Are you okay? You seem to be having a lot of mood swings these days," said Ron. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"NO! There is nothing I need to tell you!" shouted Harry angrily.

"Okay, okay. I'm just going to mind my own business and get back to my meal," sighed Ron.

After awhile of taking small bites out of his cheese and vegetables, Harry looked up at Ron.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. Ron looked up and nodded his head, accepting Harry's apology.

"So. I'll see you later, okay?" said Harry, happy again. Ron waved goodbye and went back to his drumstick.

Harry skipped to the entrance of the Great Hall while singing quietly to himself. On his way there, something happened. The problem was that Harry had his eyes closed while he was singing and you can't see where you're going if your eyes are closed. So, the result of this event was Harry crashing into someone.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry," apologised Harry. "Somebody should have told me you shouldn't have your eyes closed when you're skipping. Here, need a hand?" Harry held out a hand to the person of the floor. The guy took Harry's hand and stood up, with Harry's help.

"Thanks, I needed that. I wasn't watching where I was going," the guy said, smiling at Harry. Harry just stared at the person standing in front of him, shocked by his beauty and realised who the guy was for the first time.

"Hi."


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh my god!" Harry thought. "Who is this perfectly beautiful person standing in front of me?"

"Who are you?" he asked, searching his brain for a memory of the guy's face.

"You really don't know, do you?" replied the guy. "I'm Blaise Zabini, from Slytherin. Your arch enemy's best friend."

Harry just stared with his mouth hanging, not taking in the words said.

"You mean Draco?" he asked.

"Yes."

Harry was taken back by the politeness of Blaise. He always remembered this person as Malfoy's partner, the same rank as Crabbe and Goyle.

Blaise was waiting patiently for Harry to finish thinking while humming quietly to himself. He smiled at Harry's shocked face.

"Sorry, I think I have to go," said Blaise. "See you tomorrow at Potions."

Blaise left the Great Hall, joining his friends at the entrance. Harry came back from his trance and waved, dreamily. He walked slowly back to the Common Room and started going through the day's events.

"Getting partnered with Draco for a Potions project, seeing Draco blush and crashing into Blaise Zabini. Many strange things happened today."

He climbed into bed and waited for the rest of his friends to come back from dinner.

* * *

"Harry, wake up!" said a voice.

Harry opened his eyes, seeing a blurred picture of Ron's face.

"Ron..."

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and checked the clock. It was twelve o'clock at night. Harry wondered why Ron would wake him up at this time.

When he was fully awake, he saw his roommates sitting on the floor in a circle.

"What are you doing?" he asked cautiously.

"Playing truth or dare," replied Dean.

"Dean and Seamus taught us how to play," explained Neville. "I'm sure you know how."

Harry nodded. He saw Dudley and his friends play this game at one of Dudley's birthday parties and had always wanted to play.

"So. We don't have to waste anymore time explaining the rules again," said Ron. "Let's play."

Harry sat down between Seamus and Ron, squirming with excitement.

"Who's first?" asked Seamus.

"ME!" Harry screamed, raising his hand.

"Ok, Harry. Its not class," reminded Dean. He handed an empty bottle to Harry.

He spun the bottle in the middle of the circle and watched with everyone to see where the bottle pointed. Finally, it stopped, pointing at...

"ME!" screamed Harry again.

Dean sighed and Seamus shook his head, annoyed.

"Is that meant to happen?" asked Neville.

Ron shrugged in reply.

* * *

The boys of the Gryffindor 7th year dormitory woke up the next morning, trying to forget the memory of the night before. They had all ended up going to bed after the first spin of the bottle, except Harry, who sat on the floor spinning the bottle until two o'clock in the morning.

There was the usual uproar on who gets to use the bathroom first and finding their equipment for class. Harry, the organised one, got ready in five minutes and was one of the first to arrive for breakfast. He spotted Blaise, sitting by himself at the Slytherin table and walked over to him.

"Good morning," greeted Harry, cheerfully.

"Hi."

For the first time in many years, an event happened that would have caused a lot of commotion if anyone were there- a Gryffindor sitting down at the Slytherin table.

"What are you doing?" asked Blaise, shocked.

"Having breakfast," replied Harry, as a matter-of-factly.

"Do you realise that you are at the wrong table?" asked Blaise again.

"Yes. But there isn't a rule in saying that we cannot sit at a different table, right?"

Blaise, annoyed, stopped the interrogation and started having breakfast with his, supposedly, archenemy.

* * *

The two newly made friends finished their breakfast quickly because it involved a meal of mostly nothing. Harry was on a diet and Blaise had decided to join him.

They walked out of the Great Hall and down to the Potions classroom in the dungeons. Since it was still early, they were the first to arrive.

"Want to sit with me?" asked Blaise hopefully.

"Sure!" replied Harry, happy that he made a new friend.

Both of them sat right in front, got out their equipment and struck up a conversation about their favourite Quidditch teams.

Professor Snape arrived ten minutes later to find two people, which he least had thought of, deep in conversation.

"This is madness!" he thought. "Something is wrong with this school." But he let the matter rest, grateful that they weren't fighting.

Another ten minutes passed and the rest of the class filed in slowly, as first period was starting soon. Hermione and Ron walked through the door, bickering about the homework due next period.

"I'm telling you, Ron. If you had done it last night, you wouldn't be stressing about it now," stated Hermione.

"I'm not stressing!" yelled Ron.

"Ms Granger and Mr Weasley. I hope you two have finished your discussion and will take your seats; otherwise it will be thirty points from Gryffindor," drawled Professor Snape.

Ron glared back, but took his seat anyway. Hermione followed quickly.

"Sorry Prof. Snape. Theo and I had to retrieve something from our dorm."

Harry turned his head to the entrance of the class and saw Draco Malfoy, breathless and leaning against the door. Theodore Nott stood behind him, in the same state.

"I trust you will not be late tomorrow. It will be detention otherwise," said Professor Snape. "Now, go to your seats!"

Draco and Theo nodded, ashamed, and found two seats at the front of the room, next to Blaise and Harry. Draco exchanged a 'look' with Blaise but Blaise waved it off.

Harry saw the exchange but the thought drifted to the back of his mind. Snape, on the other hand, started the lesson already and was writing down instructions for a potion on the blackboard.

Throughout the class, the pair sitting next to him distracted Draco. Jealousy took over his instincts and made him mess up his usually perfect potion.

"Is something bothering you?" asked Theo, worried about his friend.

"No. Its nothing." was the only response he got.

At the end of the lesson, Snape reminded his class about the assignment.

"Remember, you all better start it soon. It will be due after the holidays and I recommend you do not leave it to the last minute."


	7. Chapter 7

"Draco! Draco Lucius Malfoy!"

Draco turned around slowly, already knowing the person calling his name.

"Hi Blaise. What do you want?" he asked rudely.

"That is not the way to talk to your friend," replied Blaise, as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Whatever."

Draco started to walk away but was stopped by a hand pulling him back.

"What?" he asked again.

"?" mumbled Blaise.

"Sorry, I didn't hear that. Speak slower please," said Draco.

"Can we change partners for the potions assignment?" asked Blaise again, speaking slower than necessary.

"Too slow, speak faster."

"Draco," whined Blaise, annoyed.

"Fine. What was the question again?" asked Draco.

Blaise gave a look to his friend, a look that could kill. Draco, feeling threatened, took a few steps back.

"Why would Blaise want to change partners?" thought Draco. "Is it because he doesn't like the Mudblood or he likes Harry too? Too? Wait. Do I like Harry? No, of course not."

"Why do you want to change partners?" asked Draco aloud.

"Um...I don't know. I think I'm falling for Harry," replied Blaise, cautiously.

"WHAT?"

A group of younger students walking by turned to look at the pair and quickly hurried away, not wanting to be around if a fight starts.

"I mean, Potter? You like him?" asked Draco, returning to his thoughts again.

"But I thought I was meant to be the one who likes Harry. Blaise likes him too? This is just too weird," mused Draco.

"Yeah. Harry's been really nice to me and he's a good friend, when you get to know him," said Blaise, looking down at his shoes.

"I have to let him swap, otherwise he might think I like Harry. This will not be good if it lets out. It might ruin my reputation," argued Draco in his mind.

"Fine, but you owe me. The Mudblood's worse than working with Potter," said Draco.

"Thanks Draco," said Blaise cheerfully. He leaned over to Draco and gave him a hug.

"Watch it! My hair took three hours to charm."

* * *

When Harry got back to his dormitory that night, he found a letter folded neatly on his bed. He took a glance over the room and found that the others were reading their own letters or writing a reply. Harry sat down on his bed and made himself comfortable before opening the letter.

_To Dark Rider,_

_The past few days have been a mess and I need someone to vent to. Someone I know has made friends with someone who I don't get along well with. Since the war is over, we Slytherins have been getting along better with the other houses, but I don't think this feud I have with this person can ever end. _

_Please give me your thoughts on this matter because I'm obviously having a lot of trouble with it._

_From your pen-pal,_

_Silver Snake_

_P.S. If you have anything you need to vent about, I'm here to listen._

Harry finished reading and lied down, thinking of a suitable reply for his pen pal. A few minutes passed and when Ron looked over to his friend, all he found was a soundly sleeping Harry.

* * *

"Draco! Wake up! You got a letter."

Draco got out of his bed and stretched his arms.

"Give it," he said angrily.

"You forgot the magic word," said Blaise, pouting.

Instead of a word, Blaise got a rude gesture from his friend. Draco grabbed the letter off the open-mouthed Blaise, got back into bed and shut the curtains. He opened the envelope slowly and cautiously.

_To Silver Snake,_

_Lucky for you, I'm in a similar situation. If you want to resolve it, you should apologise to that person and you would probably make a new friend. I'm going to set the example and do the same thing for my problem. _

_From,_

_Dark Rider_

_P.S. Sorry, I don't have anything to vent about. Unlike you, I lead a happy life, mostly._


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Sorry for the long wait. Hope you like it!**

"Harry! Over here!" shouted Blaise from the Slytherin table.

"Hey," said Harry, shyly. Everyone had turned to stare at the two, shocked by the oddness of the event.

Blaise started to eat his breakfast, while talking to Harry between mouthfuls. This caused an over spray of food to fly out of Blaise's mouth and onto the person who had just sat down opposite him.

"Blaise! What the hell? Close your mouth when you eat!" yelled Draco, going red with anger. He got up and stormed off to the bathroom to wash up.

Blaise laughed. "Draco's hilarious," he said to Harry. "Now what was I saying again?"

"You swapped partners for the Potions assignment?"

"Oh yes. I talked it over with Professor Snape and he let me swap with Draco. I'm now your partner!" explained Blaise excitedly.

"That's good. I'd rather have you as a partner than Malfoy." said Harry relieved. He was still confused about Draco's actions over the past few days.

"So, when would you like to start the assignment?" asked Blaise.

"How about this evening? It's the first day of the holidays after all, so we don't have to wake up early for class tomorrow," replied Harry.

"It's a date."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Draco and Blaise were playing chess in their common room.

"I heard that you and Potter are having a study date later," said Draco, trying to sound casual.

"Yep. I think I'm going to tell him I like him."

Draco felt a stab in his heart, but didn't recognise the feeling. "I must have eaten too little at lunch," he thought.

"How do you think he's going to respond?" asked Draco.

"I don't know. I hope well. The Hogsmeade weekend is coming up and I hope I have someone to go with."

"But you always go with me!" said Draco, a bit too loudly. The other people in the common room stared, confused, and left quickly, thinking they were about to witness a lovers' quarrel.

"I'm sure you can come with me and Harry," said Blaise, smiling, lost in his dream world. "You could end the feud you have with him, just like what you were telling me you thought of doing."

"Yeah, sure," answered Draco, rolling his eyes.

They played game after game until it was time for Blaise to leave.

* * *

Harry stumbled into the Library, earning himself a glare from Madam Pince. He muttered an apology and walked quickly to the table where Blaise sat.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered. "Forgot the time. I was playing Quidditch with Ron until it started to get dark. Sorry!"

"Don't worry about it. How can I be angry to that face?" said Blaise. To this, Harry blushed.

"I already got a head start on our assignment. Here's a list on all the potions we can choose from..."

They worked efficiently until Madam Pince came to their table, telling them the library was going to close.

"How about I walk you to your common room?" asked Blaise, politely.

"Thanks. I hate walking alone so late at night."

They walked in silence until the Fat Lady portrait was in sight. Blaise, noticing that, pulled Harry into an alcove, avoiding the eye of the Fat Lady.

"Harry, I want to tell you something," said Blaise nervously.

"What is it Blaise?"

"Um...?" stammered Blaise.

"Sure," answered Harry, smiling. "I'll meet you in the entrance of the Great Hall."

"Ok," said Blaise, shocked, but delighted. Harry gave him a peck on the cheek and went into the Gryffindor Common Room.

Blaise lifted his hand to feel where Harry had kissed him. He smiled and skipped the whole way back to the Slytherin Common Room, excited for that weekend, when he and Harry are going to have their first date.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Soooo sorry! I know I haven't updated in ages, so here is a small snippet of what happens next. Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. Thanks to all my readers and reviewers for staying with this story (:**

"Stop dragging me! I can walk myself, you know?" yelled Draco, trying to wrench his arm out of Blaise's hold.

"Blaise! Over here," said Harry brightly, waving the two Slytherins over. Blaise quickly released Draco and skipped over to Harry.

"Harry! I'm so sorry I'm late. This person wouldn't wake up in time," Blaise said, looking pointedly at Draco.

"Malfoy."

"Potter."

Blaise looked on, worried. He wanted Harry and Draco to get along, but they were still cold to each other, even though there was no reason to be. He laughed, trying to break the awkward silence, and quickly linked his arm around Harry's. They walked briskly out into the courtyard, while Draco sulkily followed, where groups of students were gathered, ready to make their way to Hogsmeade.

"Let's go!"

* * *

"Ahh..." sighed Harry, letting himself fall back onto his bed. "I think I'm in love."

Ron stared at his friend, raising his eyebrow.

"Don't tell me its Malfoy," said Ron.

"Of course not! Its...Blaise," sighed Harry, closing his eyes.

Ron smiled, "I'm glad you're happy."

"I am."


End file.
